Kayden parked a canoe. 8 miles away from island. Took two hours while paddle ting against current. He paddles 6 mph with no current

Question

Cayden paddle a canoe. The island is 8 miles from the shore. His trip to the island took two hours by paddling Against The Current. He paddle 6 miles an hour with no current what was the speed of the current

Answer 1

Hi Jen!

When you're paddling a canoe in a current, the water will either increase or decrease your speed by exactly the speed of the current.

Examples:

(with the current)

if you normally paddle 1 mile per hour and the current is pushing you forward at 1 mile per hour, your total speed will be 2 miles per hour.

(against the current)

if you normally paddle at 1 mile per hour and the current is pushing you back at 1 mile per hour, your total speed will be 0 miles per hour (you wont move).

For this problem:

he normally canoes at 6 mph.

Speed is the distance traveled divided by time it takes to get there. In this case, he traveled 8 miles in 2 hours. 8 miles ÷ 2 hrs = 4 miles per hour.

So, if he normally paddles at 6 mph but his total speed is 4 mph, the current has slowed him down by exactly 2 mph. Therefore, the current speed is 2 mph.